Coronavirus: Everything you need to know in Montreal today

Every day in Canada, a lot of news regarding COVID-19 comes out nationally and locally.

And for now, we will be putting together Montreal and Canada’s top headlines daily to help you digest the news in one place.

Throughout the day, you can see all the headlines in real-time here.

Top coronavirus stories for June 11, as of 5 pm ET:

Quebec confirms 24 more coronavirus deaths as cases near 53,500

The Quebec government revealed that the province’s COVID-19-related death toll has reached 5,105, after announcing 52 more deaths since Wednesday afternoon.

There are a reported 144 new known cases of the coronavirus, according to the Santé Quebec website. That brings the confirmed total to 53,485 known cases with 871 hospitalizations, 114 of whom are in the ICU.

Currently, a reported 456,779 tests have turned up negative throughout Quebec and over 15,000 cases have been resolved.

Canadian travel industry pushing government to open borders for tourism

The Canadian Travel & Tourism Roundtable, an organization comprised of members of the travel and tourism sector, has written an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and provincial premiers, urging them to reopen the provinces, territories, and country to travel.

“Under the leadership of our governments, we agreed to implement tough decisions to protect our health and safety,” the letter reads. “We shut down our schools, our businesses, and our borders. We all made sacrifices and continue to adapt to this new reality.”

Driving lessons to resume throughout Quebec as of next week

Quebec has added another gear to its deconfinement process, announcing that driving lessons throughout the province will resume as of Monday, June 15.

Minister of Labour Jean Boulet made the announcement on Wednesday, stating that the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) will start taking appointments for registered appointments and tests as of Wednesday, June 22.

The SAAQ says it plans to communicate with drivers whose tests were cancelled as a result of the pandemic and will be given priority to reschedule.

Las Vegas has been chosen as one of the NHL’s hub cities: report

It appears that the NHL has chosen at least one of its two hub cities for the resumption of play this summer. According to multiple reports, including from Adrian Dater out of Colorado and Rob Fai out of Vancouver, Las Vegas will host games when the NHL returns to play.

Air Transat will return to the skies and resume operations next month

After extending its service suspension from its initial date of May 31 to the end of June due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Montreal-based airline, Air Transat, will be returning to the skies beginning July 23, 2020.

The airline will be offering an updated flight schedule to 22 destinations in the United States, Canada, the South, and Europe throughout the summer season, which ends on October 31, 2020. As well, Air Transat will also provide travel packages for South and European destinations during this time and will moderately reopen travel agencies within its network beginning on June 15, according to an official press release.

Opposition parties block federal government’s latest CERB bill

A bill proposed by the federal government to modify the federal wage subsidy and Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), while implementing a one-time $600 payment to Canadians with disabilities, was blocked by all opposition parties on Wednesday, after an emergency House of Commons sitting was called to discuss the matter.

The bill, entitled An Act Respecting Additional COVID-19 Measures, sought to expand the wage subsidy program to include seasonal workers and some additional businesses. It also proposed penalties for Canadians fraudulently claiming CERB.